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Rogue Valley residents knew Cheneys back when GOP nominee regular guy in high school, albeit one with a little something extra By Dani Dodge As far back as high school, Lynne and Dick Cheney stood out from the crowd. She was a champion baton twirler, cheerleader and homecoming queen. He was the football-playing student body vice president who went to Boys� State and Boys� Nation, programs for up-and-coming student leaders. "He was the kind of kid you expected to go places," said Judy Sands, one of three Medford residents who graduated with the Cheneys from a Wyoming high school in 1959. Now the Republican vice presidential candidate, Cheney will make a campaign visit to Medford today. Republican presidential nominee George W. Bush selected Cheney, 59, as his running mate last month. Cheney served as secretary of defense under Bush�s father, and served six terms as Wyoming�s lone state representative. Since 1995, Cheney has been CEO of Halliburton Co., the world�s largest oil field service company. Larry Stubson, a Medford music teacher, remembers one of Cheney�s earlier campaigns: the one to get his then-girlfriend, Lynne Vincent, elected as the Natrona County high school�s homecoming queen. "He put up a lot of posters making sure everyone knew Lynne was the person who should be homecoming queen because of everything she does for the school," Stubson said. "That�s the one time I remember him pushing stuff." Although Stubson, Judy Sands and her husband, Jerry Sands, graduated with the Cheneys, they weren�t close. But the Cheneys were the kind of couple you couldn�t help but notice � even in a graduating class of more than 400. They all grew up in and around Casper, population 17,000, at a time when oil was being discovered and people were arriving to work the oil fields. The mile-high plateau where they lived was a place of sagebrush, cowboys and oil rigs. Some kids spent their Friday nights cruising past the A&W. Others got up early on Saturday mornings to hunt the antelope that roamed nearby. Lynne and Dick Cheney were the kind of kids who excelled in school and were chosen for groups like Honor Society and Boys� and Girls� State. Judy Sands talked to Dick Cheney the day he was posing for Boys� State pictures. "I asked him how it had gone," Judy Sands remembers. "He was spellbound about it. He was into politics even then." Despite his youthful success, Cheney wasn�t stuck up. "He was the kind of guy who you walk down the hall and he would say �Hi� and stand and talk to you," Jerry Sands remembered. "He was a regular kind of guy." Although he wasn�t a big kid, Cheney proved to his football coaches that he could still play. He made varsity. "I was something like 14th string on the football team and he was first string � we�d run into each other in practice. Sometimes rather violently," Sands said. "And he usually won." Cheney�s conservatism probably came naturally from the environment, Jerry Sands said. "From Wyoming, what else can you be but conservative?" Sands asked. "The cowboys and roughnecks would beat anyone else up." Since high school, Lynne Cheney also has made a mark on conservative politics: She headed the National Endowment for Humanities and is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a Washington think tank. "I didn�t think of her as real political back then, but more intellectual," Judy Sands said. "She was pretty well-rounded." Jerry Sands now works as a bank trust officer with South Valley Bank & Trust. He and Judy have raised two daughters. They last saw Cheney at their 40th reunion last summer. "There is always a rustle in the crowd when they arrive," Judy said. The Sandses have followed Cheney�s career, pleased that he�s never faltered in being the stand-up guy they remember. "We�ve always been really proud of him," Judy said. "He�s been a really good honest guy. We�ve never heard anything to make us change our minds." Jerry Sands said he plans to stand among Rogue Valley residents cheering on the vice presidential candidate at the airport today. "I just want to stand in the crowd: Be at least one more Republican out there standing there waving to him." Stubson said he was going to pass on the appearance. He�s a Democrat. And though his political persuasion will keep him from voting for his old classmate, he still admires what Dick Cheney represents. "I think it�s amazing: Here a boy from middle of nowhere � Casper, Wyo. � is in the midst of all this," Stubson said. "It just proves the old adage: you can be anything you want to be in America." 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